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I have worked for the US Fish and Wildlife Service for over 20 years and many of these years have been devoted to sea turtle conservation. My responsibilities now lie primarily with international sea turtle conservation. We all know that since sea turtles are wildlife without borders, sea turtle conservation is international by its very nature. This means that no matter what the status of nesting sea turtle populations within our natal countries, nor how much effort we expend to conserve these populations, with rare exceptions, long term success is dependent on the efforts within or by neighboring countries as well. Sometimes these neighbors may be on the other side of an ocean basin or the world. My hope and desire is that the Symposium 2002 program can bring a better understanding to the many dimensions of international sea turtle conservation. I will work hard with the program chair and others to bring to you a program that will stimulate productive discussions and bring you the kind of practical information so that we can all return home more inspired, better connected with our neighbors, and better prepared with the knowledge we need, to meet the conservation challenges within and outside of our natal countries’ borders. Miami is a city alive with the energy of many rich cultures, and an exciting site to promote our international theme. So please mark your calendars for Symposium 2002 and join us.

Symposium Registration: You must register to attend the Symposium. The preferred registration method is to visit us online at the Web site: <https://seaturtle.org>. There you will find everything you need to know about the Symposium in addition to a user-friendly interface for Symposium registration. Please help us by registering via the Internet. However if you do not have Internet access you may also register by post mail. A hard copy Symposium announcement and registration form will be mailed to all individuals who have registered for previous Symposia. If you do not receive a Symposium announcement by post mail, contact the Symposium Registration Coordinator, Donna Broadbent (E-mail: zenith@citlink.net; Tel: + 1-304-947-5377; Fax: +1-304-947-5364; Address: 480 Williamsport Pike, Suite 3, Martinsburg, West Virginia, 25401, USA). Registrants who cannot access the Internet and require a personal invitation letter can request this letter by contacting the Symposium Secretary, Sheryan Epperly-Chester (E-mail: sheryan.epperly@noaa.gov; Tel: +1-305-361-4207; Fax: +1-305-361-4478; Address: NOAA/NMFS, 75 Virginia Beach Drive, Miami, Florida 33149, USA).

Schedule of Events: Prior to the Symposium;

April 2nd and 3rd (Tuesday and Wednesday); the Ninth Reunion of Latin American Sea Turtle Specialists and The Annual General Meeting of the Wider Caribbean Sea Turtle Conservation Network (WIDECAST) will meet concurrently at the Wyndham Hotel - Biscayne Bay. These groups will meet in rooms immediately adjacent to each other to facilitate movement of individuals between meetings as necessary. Also, this year for the first time, there will be a one day meeting of Mediteranean sea turtle biologists prior to the symposium. It will meet on Wednesday April 3rd at the Wyndham Hotel. For additional details about these meetings, please contact Ana Barragan, Anabella Barrios, or Joanna Alfaro (Latin Reunion), Karen Eckert (WIDECAST), and Dimitris Margaritoulis (Mediterranean meeting) (information below).

As this announcement is being written in April 2001, many of the details of the program are yet to be decided. A field trip to Everglades National Park is definitely in the plans and other local attractions are under consideration. There will be several workshops as always but the topics and scheduling have not been finalized yet. More complete details will be in the October MTN and on the website by the end of August or sooner.

April 3rd (Wednesday); check in and late registration begins at 3 pm. We will have a social event this evening at the Wyndham Hotel pool so bring your swimming suits if you are so inclined.

April 4th (Thursday); check in and late registration continues at 8 am and throughout the day and continues through Sunday. Oral and poster sessions begin.

April 5th (Friday); a special mini-symposium of invited oral presentations on black sea turtles will run concurrently with the regular oral sessions. Jeffrey Seminoff, is organizing the mini-symposium. His contact information is listed in the travel announcement section. The live auction will take place starting at 8 pm. Proceeds from the auction go to the international travel fund so please think about contributing items for this worthwhile cause.

April 6th (Saturday); oral and poster sessions continue until 3:30 pm. The Plenary session will be held from 3:30 – 4:30 pm. The banquet will begin at 6:30 pm. There will be a live dance band from 8 pm to midnight so please plan on joining me on the dance floor.

April 7th (Sunday); the IUCN Marine Turtle Specialist Group Annual Meeting will take place during the morning. Field trips and possible workshops to be determined.

The Symposium Meeting Site: The Symposium will be held at the Wyndham Miami - Biscayne Bay, 1601 Biscayne Boulevard, Miami, Florida 33132 USA. The Wyndham Miami has 23 meeting rooms and banquet halls, 528 guest rooms, 3 restaurants and lounges including a 4 star fine restaurant, and exercise room, rooftop pool, gift shop and guest parking (for a fee). Please make every effort to support the Symposium by staying at the Wyndham Miami as we have a room block we must meet if we are to save paying for meeting rooms.

Reserving a room at the Wyndham Hotel Biscayne Bay: Rooms at the Wyndham are $108 plus tax per night for 1 – 4 people. To guarantee this rate reservations must be made by February 15, 2002. Be aware that rates at this hotel and others in the area will be substantially higher if you miss this deadline. Reserve your room by contacting Donna Broadbent (E-mail: zenith@citlink.net; Tel: + 1-304-947- 5377, Toll Free: +1 304 947 5378, Fax: +1-304-947-5364, Address: 480 Williamsport Pike, Suite 3, Martinsburg, West Virginia, 25401, USA). All hotel reservations must be made through Donna.

Air travel: US Airways and Delta Airlines have been designated official carriers for the Symposium. US Airways has offered a 5 % discount off First or Envoy Class and any published US Airways promotional round trip fare. A 10% discount off unrestricted “Y” or B8US / B4AUS fares will apply with 7 day advance reservations and ticketing required. Plan ahead and receive an additional 5% discount by ticketing 60 days or more prior to departure. To obtain these discounts, you must call US Airways’ Group and meeting Reservation Office toll free at +1 877-874-7687, 8:00 am - 9:30 p.m. Refer to GOLD FILE # 99141989.

Delta Airlines is offering a 5 % discount off its published round-trip fares within the continental U.S., Hawaii, Alaska, Canada, Mexico, Bermuda, San Juan, Nassau and the U.S. Virgin Islands. By purchasing your ticket 60 or more days prior to your departure date, you can receive an additional 5 % bonus discount. These special fares are also available for travel from Central and South America, Europe, and Japan. Call Delta Meeting Network Reservations +1 800-241-6760, 8:30 a.m. - 11:00 p.m. 7 days a week. Please refer to File # 1777534A. IMPORTANT! If your travel agent books your travel, the meeting identifier code MUST appear in the tour code box on all tickets issued in conjunction with this event.

Ground transportation: The airport is approximately 15 minutes away from the Wyndham - Miami. Miami Center Transportation is the preferred ground transportation company to and from Miami International Airport. MCT will provide non-stop shuttles directly to the Wyndham Miami Biscayne Bay. MCT is pleased to offer the following discounted rates: Round-trip $14/person; One-way $8/person. MCT accepts credit card payments and encourages attendees to use this option in order to pre pay. They accept MasterCard, Visa, and Discover. All attendees who have pre-paid their transportation costs will receive a confirmation from Donna Broadbent which should be shown to your shuttle driver upon arrival. Fees paid on site should be in $US. Phone numbers, which will allow you 24-hour, 7 days/week access to ground transportation, will be posted in the near future. A cab to the hotel will cost approximately $22 one-way. The hotel offers a free shuttle service to South Beach and one of the major downtown shopping areas.

Call for Papers: Contributed oral and poster presentations will be accepted from 1 August 2001 until 15 November 2001. We hope to avoid scheduling numerous concurrent sessions - to help us do this we strongly suggest that you consider presenting your information in one of the poster sessions. Again this year we have a large room for the poster sessions which will also accommodate the vendors and coffee breaks.

Submission: If you have access to the Internet please use the Symposium web site for your abstract submission: <https://seaturtle.org>. Alternatively you may submit your abstract in one of three alternate ways: (1) as a text file attachment (other formats cannot be accepted) to an e-mail sent to symposium2002.abstractsNMFS@noaa.gov - please note this e-mail account will not be active until 1 August 2001 and is for abstract submission only; (2) via fax sent to +1 301-713-0376 (US); or (3) via mail to Barbara Schroeder, Program Chair, NMFS, Office of Protected Resources, 1315 East-West Highway ROOM 13657, Silver Spring, Maryland 20910 USA. If you are not submitting over the web, you must include the following information, in this order, along with your abstract:

1. Name of presenting author

2. E-mail of presenting author (an E-mail contact is required)

3. Fax number of presenting author

4. Date this information was submitted (DD/MM/YY)

5. Title of presentation (ALL IN UPPERCASE)

6. All authors of the presentation in the order you want them to appear in the program. Please place each author name on a separate line.

7. Author(s) affiliation(s) in the same order as above. Please clarify any multiple affiliations.

8. Abstract describing your presentation (250 words maximum). The abstracts must be in English to facilitate proper placement in the Symposium program. Please note that for the Symposium Proceedings you will be able to present an extended abstract version of your presentation (maximum four pages).

9. Specify the type of presentation you prefer to make. Your choices are: oral, poster, either oral or poster, or video/film.

10. Equipment needed. Your choices are: slide projector, overhead projector, computer projector system with MS Power Point or Corel Presentations, video tape player, or other (please give details).

11. Indicate whether you are a student and whether you would like to be considered for the Archie Carr Student Paper Awards (given to both oral and poster presentations of merit). Recently graduated presenters who are presenting work done as students will qualify for these awards.

THE DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSION OF ALL ABSTRACTS IS 15 NOVEMBER 2001

Notice of acceptance: Final decisions on paper acceptance will be made by the Program Committee. First authors will be notified of the acceptance of their oral paper or poster paper by 15 January 2002. If you need an acceptance letter sent to someone other than yourself, please specify this in your abstract submission.

Latin Reunion:
Ana R Barragan-Mexico; Anabella Barrios- Guatemala;
Joanna Alfaro-Peru,
E-mail:retomala@yahoo.com.mx

WIDECAST Meeting
Karen L. Eckert
Executive Director, WIDECAST17218 Libertead Drive, San Diego, CA 92127 USA
Tel: +1-858-451-6894, Fax: +1-858-451-6986,
E-mail: widecast@ix.netcom.com
Mediterranean Meeting:
Dimitris Margaritoulis
E-mail: margaritoulis@archelon.gr

MTSG Meeting
F. Alberto Abreu (Chairman)
Estacion Mazatlan Instituto de Ciencias del Mar y Limnologia UNAM, Apartado Postal 811 Calz. Joel Montes Camarena, Mazatlan, Sinaloa 82000 MEXICO, Tel: +52-69-85-28-45, -46, -47, or –48, Fax: +52-69-82-61-33, E-mail: abreu@ola.icmyl.unam.mx